THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY

Registered charity 306093 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as R F S, THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY OF ENGLAND AND WALES, THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY OF ENGLAND, WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND

Educational charityPromoting the wise management of trees and woods

Causes: Education/training · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.0m
Latest spending
£967k
Registered
1982
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a net surplus of £37,062 from operations, with total income of £1,003,818 and total expenditure of £966,756. The trustees report indicates that free unrestricted reserves of £217,924 represent approximately two months of normal expenditure, which is below the trustees' stated intention to increase this level to ensure operational continuity during severe disruption. The independent auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £218k; policy: two months of normal expenditure)
“This amount represents around two months of normal expenditure by the charity. The trustees intend to increase this to a level at which the Society can ensure operational continuity in the event of a severe disruption.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Ellacotts Audit Services Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

The charity’s company — latest Companies House iXBRL filing (balance sheet 31 December 2025)
  • Average employees: 0.09

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

5 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (4 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income
£1.0m
Total spending
£967k
Cost of raising funds
£79k
Reserves (reported)
£1.7m
Employees
9

Reported reserves equal ~21.1 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (60% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 7.9% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£1.0m£967k
31/12/2024£917k£967k
31/12/2023£905k£841k
31/12/2022£783k£772k
31/12/2021£589k£594k

Common questions

Is THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a net surplus of £37,062 from operations, with total income of £1,003,818 and total expenditure of £966,756. The trustees report indicates that free unrestricted reserves of £217,924 represent approximately two months of normal expenditure, which is below the trustees' stated intention to increase this level to ensure operational continuity during severe disruption. The independent auditor confirmed that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Ellacotts Audit Services Limited.

Who funds THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY as a grant recipient include THE ALA GREEN CHARITABLE TRUST, THE JANUS FOUNDATION, THE CHARTLEY FOUNDATION, THE SHERWOOD FOREST TRUST, THE LORD FARINGDON CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
Community Foundation North East08/03/2016£3kTowards Teaching Trees Northumberland
Community Foundation North East18/02/2016£1kTowards Teaching Trees

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE NATIONAL FOREST COMPANY.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE ROYAL FORESTRY SOCIETY£1.0m——below—no doubt
THE NATIONAL FOREST COMPANY FY2025£10.2m——unclear—no doubt
THE ARBORICULTURAL ASSOCIATION FY2025£1.7min excess of £70,0001unclear—material uncertainty
SMALL WOODS ASSOCIATION FY2025£1.7m—0unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL WELSH AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY LIMITED FY2025£7.8m£90,001 - £100,000—within—no doubt
WILL WOODLANDS FY2025£602k—0above—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.